Thanks Lisa for your very observant imput ...... and stfa for that confirmation. How wonderful for you to have been there and in such a great position too!

I've just edited my first post to agree with"yeah" and Javier on the guitar. I had automatically thought it was Mitch. The video doesn't show anything else but Leonard I wonder why

Last edited by B4real on Fri Dec 14, 2012 7:37 am, edited 1 time in total.

Be for real. Free yourself to find the real Self ~~ MeHappiness is like learning the violin, the more you practice it the more it comes to you ~~ MeWithout the heart, there can be no understanding between the hand and the mind ~~ Gore Vidal

stfa wrote:
I can confirm this! I was in second row right in front of Javier- he did indeed say "Take it Jav".

Thank you from me too, stfa! Just last night, my husband & I were watching the video together & during the guitar solo, I said, "How about that -Javier plays the blues!" And my husband insisted (understandably) that it was Mitch, & I said, "But Leonard said 'take it, Javier'". So then I thought maybe Leonard said the wrong name accidentally (which didn't seem likely, but I suppose anything is possible. . .). So it's good to know the truth of the matter! Thank you again, stfa.

After almost a week in Montreal we departed to Toronto knowing we’d two more concerts and other special moments to look forward to. The day after arriving we fulfilled the dream of seeing The Niagara Falls which was wonderful and we were blessed with sunshine and warm weather on that day. The following day was a concert day but before the concert we had one last Cohen related place to visit. It was after we had booked our trip that I had the idea to try to get permission to view Cohen’s archives in The University of Toronto and we were delighted to receive that permission and so it was with much excitement we went to the University to view some of the items. There is too much to view on one day but we did spend 3 hours reading unpublished stories and letters. I loved all of it but especially the short stories. I won’t go into details because if Cohen wanted these in the public domain he’d publish them himself but suffice to say all the usual Cohen traits and subjects were covered and should I ever return to Toronto I’d seek permission to view these again and give myself more time!

After this it was time to get ready for the first Toronto concert at The Air Canada Centre. This concert was amazing for me and Cohen really changed the setlist from Montreal. The only change in the first half was the addition of Different Sides after A Thousand Kisses Deep. I was delighted to hear this song as it is my favourite from Old Ideas and indeed one of all time favourite Cohen songs. Other first half highlights included Cohen dancing during The Future during the line “White men dancing”. I love when Cohen is in a playful humour and he certainly was this night. I was pleased to note many smiles from the stage and seeing Cohen so relaxed.

Before the Toronto concerts I had named them the Hallelujah concerts in honour of my love of this song and the fact that the dates of the concerts were on the 4th and the 5th and fitted in nicely with the 4th line of the lyrics, “It goes like this the fourth the fifth”. I had a smile on my face as Cohen sang this line both nights. Of course this was before the usual tears as even if I don’t mention the song on every night in this review as I want to mention as many songs as possible it always has the same effect on me. This song introduced me to Cohen’s music which changed my life forever so I will always hold it dear.

There was many other highlights in the second half of this concert. This included my first Canadian time to hear I Can’t Forget and Anyhow which I’d only heard once before in Dublin. If I’m completely honest I did prefer the Dublin rendition as Cohen sang it looking up whereas in Toronto he was looking down and I love when we see Cohen looking up when he is singing and seeing completely the expression on his face! It was great hearing yet another tour premiere on this night which was Feels So Good. This song has never appeared on an album and was premiered on the previous tour in 2009. However the version we heard in Toronto was very much different to the performances on the previous tour so much so that it was almost a completely different song.

Another highlight was during So Long Marianne when Cohen sang the words “God damn mountain side”. The last time I had heard him use those words was in Lissadell so it reminded me of a wonderful memory. There was a funny moment when Cohen thanked those who climbed to the high seats and then those of us who had emptied our pockets in the lower seats. I haven’t mentioned it before as trying not to repeat myself but it must be noted the sublime performance of The Webb Sisters of If It Be Your Will at every concert and also the performance of Sharon Robinson during Alexandra Leaving. Both these performances every night is amazing and I never tire hearing them. Indeed there are many songs with the three ladies having solos and they always sound wonderful.

All too soon it was our final Canadian concert but the one where we had front row tickets which was a nice way to end our adventure and indeed our final Cohen concert this year.It would prove to be a great concert with some unique memories to take away with us.

During the intro to Ain’t No Cure For Love this time we got an intro with a difference. Cohen spoke about reading reviews of the previous night on the internet and he said he had seen a bad one and he couldn’t understand why he didn’t dislike the son of a bitch (his words!!) more and that he should hate him but then he realised there ain’t no cure for love. As someone who writes reviews I found this highly amusing and wondered who would write a bad review of a Cohen concert. Of course I know that not everyone shares the same opinions but bad Cohen reviews are very rare. It makes me wonder who was the reviewer. I have yet to read the review but I’d hazard a guess this person is not an admirer of Cohen’s. This does annoy me when people who are not admirers do reviews. It was once suggested to me to improve my writing I needed to start reviewing artists I don’t like. I disagreed with this as I feel for someone to write a proper review they need to at least like the genre of music they are reviewing. I can assure you all I have seen concerts of people I love and have been very disappointed and don’t review with rose-tinted glasses!

As with all the other nights there were many highlights and indeed for me every song is a highlight but of course some songs stand out for different reasons on different nights. On this night it was great to hear the tour premiere of Chelsea Hotel # 2. This was a solo with Cohen on his own with just his guitar. I have to say I felt blessed to have heard tour premieres on all four concerts I attended in Canada. Considering there had already been 44 previous concerts on this tour made it even more impressive.

As this was my final concert of the year I savoured every minute of it. It must be noted that songs I haven’t yet mentioned but love hearing every night include Famous Blue Raincoat, Anthem, Closing Time, First We Take Manhattan and Come Healing. I do indeed love all Cohen’s songs but these are extra special with the aforementioned songs for me. Famous Blue Raincoat has always been a favourite and I love the way Cohen now ends it with “Sincerely, a Friend”. Anthem is a song which literally changed my life when I was going through some difficulties. I’d only just discovered the song at the time and slowly the lyrics gave me strength when I needed it most. I always love the upbeat melodies and great lyrics of both Closing Time and First We Take Manhattan and the melody and The Webb Sisters singing Come Healing is beauty personified.

The final song was Cohen’s cover of Save The Last Dance for me. This was our first time hearing it in Canada and it was a nice way to end our adventure. We had a wonderful time in Canada and we met amazing people who are now friends and I hope someday to meet them again if not in Canada then hopefully somewhere else on the road.

ah Gwen, Those photos are truly wonderful. I love the close-up hand on the guitar!
It's good that you have included all the band because it gives a better over all feeling of the concert.

Be for real. Free yourself to find the real Self ~~ MeHappiness is like learning the violin, the more you practice it the more it comes to you ~~ MeWithout the heart, there can be no understanding between the hand and the mind ~~ Gore Vidal

Thanks again Mary and Bev. I appreciate the comments and kind words. Mary I'd feel a part of me was missing if I couldn't take photos although I do tend to just capture the beginning of each song and then keep my camera on for any moments.